Penn State lost 33-13 to Illinois on Homecoming, during its Big Ten home opener, to give the Illini its first win ever in Beaver Stadium.

To add insult to injury, ﻿Illinois made 23 first downs and ran for 282 yards, the most rushing yardage against Penn State since Minnesota’s 288 in 2004. Offensively, the Nittany Lions made only seven first downs, their second-fewest ever under JoePa. Penn State had a season-low 235 yards of total offense.

Never one to mince words but rarely one to swear, as Joe Paterno bluntly put it in his post-game press conference: “They kicked our @$$es.” Paterno refused to point fingers at individual players but did say that the loss falls on the coaching staff and indicated that they might be asking too much of some guys and would be looking at personnel changes for upcoming games.

So, where do they go from here? Break out the R-word. This is officially a Rebuilding Year. Penn State will have to look at what is best for them to do this season to benefit them next season. They will also have to salvage what’s left of 2010. Fortunately the Nittany Lions have a bye this coming weekend before heading to Minnesota on the 23rd.